Brush School District’s continuing work on turning the existing high school into part of the new high school/middle school campus could cause some further “inconveniences” this summer, Brush Superintendent Dr. Bill Wilson warned the school board Tuesday night.

Specifically, some of the facilities at the current high school may not be available for planned summer activities and events due to potential asbestos abatement in the older parts of the building.

Testing for asbestos was done by the contractor over spring break, Wilson told the board in his construction update. However, he was still waiting for the full report on the results of that testing.

“We don’t expect to have any (asbestos) in the 2005 addition, but we know there is some (in older parts), and we’ll have to do something about it most likely in the current competition gym and locker rooms,” the superintendent said. “And so that could be done this summer.”

That could cause some issues for the people who would normally be using high school facilities, like the gym.

“If it’s done this summer, it’ll be awfully tough to have that gym open,” Wilson said of the potential asbestos abatement work.

So district staff will need to figure out how to schedule around that so that current middle school facilities and those at Beaver Valley Elementary School could be made available instead.

“We’re talking about making sure everybody knows well in advance,” Wilson told the school board.

But some high school facilities likely would not be affected by the abatement work and could still be available over the summer.

“The weight room should still be accessible to the community and to our teams because part of what we’ll have to do there is put an outside door there,” Wilson said.

So far, the school district has spent about $4 million on the high school/middle school campus project, he told the board.

Other construction projects

The school board on Tuesday night approved the contract with architecture firm Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael & Nelson of Garden City, Kansas., for work on the projects at Thomson Primary School, Beaver Valley Elementary School and various facilities improvements at the high school football field.

This contract approval was something the superintendent discovered had been left out of agendas at previous meetings. In the meantime the contractor had been working on good faith with the district, Wilson said.

The project at Thomson will happen first among the other ones, and the superintendent updated the board on its status.

“We’ll need to move one of our play structures over on the playground at Thomson,” he said, but that did not sound like it would be too much of a problem.

After that would come relocating the modular buildings that currently house the extra classroom space.

“We should be ready and able to move those modulars shortly after school’s out,” Wilson said. “Sometime in early June would be the goal. And then we move to creating a path on the back and getting started (on construction).”

The completion date for the project at Thomson currently “is expected to be sometime in December,” the superintendent said. That would allow for moving into the new space in “early January over Christmas break.”

School calendar approved

The school board also approved the calendar for the 2018-19 school year.

It includes: classes beginning Aug. 21 for grades three to 12; an Aug. 23 start date for first and second grades; kindergarten starting Aug. 27; and preschool classes beginning Sept. 4. For time off from school, winter break is from Dec. 24 to Jan. 4 and spring break is from March 25 to 29. Graduation currently is scheduled for May 18.

Wilson said that the 2018-19 school year includes five classroom instruction days more than required by the state, so it has room for if snow days or other days off school are needed.

He also pointed out that he had heard concerns from some parents about state track and baseball events happening May 18 and conflicting with graduation.

“There’s a high likelihood of having some students that will have to make some tough choices if we leave graduation on Saturday morning,” he said.

But there also are plenty of families that want graduation that day to allow travel time for people who live a significant distance away and want to be there for the ceremony.

Wilson said he expected any change in the graduation date for next school year to be finalized by the start of school in August to that plans will be able to be made well in advance.

Other action

The board also:

• Approved the preliminary school district budget for the 2018-19 school year; the final budget could be ready for the board to approve in May, but that approval is more likely to happen in June depending on when state funding for the school district is finalized, Wilson said.

• Approved the school district employee benefits package for 2018-19; there would not be additional costs for premiums to the employees next school year, but that likely would not be the case in following years, the board cautioned.